Standing Alone
by Lady J2
Summary: “Looks like a laptop on steroids,” the Devil muttered under his breath. Zechs chose to ignore the comment, although another twitch of Noin’s lips told him she’d heard as well. “Whoa,” the Devil breathed. “They’ve got silos in here.”
1. Message in a bottle

Chapter 1 – _Message in a bottle_

Noin hummed softly to herself, and rotated her head, trying to work out the kink in her neck.  It had been a long day, but the recent excavation was coming along nicely.  The work was hard, but to actually see progress, to build something; that gave a thrill all its own.

A long figure stood before the windows, silhouetted in the faint light as she entered the common room.  She frowned slightly – it was too late for most of the members of their barracks to still be awake.  She would have been home hours ago, if not for the oil rupture in her suit.

The figure shifted, brushing a strand of hair over his shoulder.  She smiled.  He was impossible to miss.  Scuffing her foot slightly (sneaking up behind either of them was not healthy), she wrapped an arm around his waist.

"What are you doing still awake?"  She laid a kiss against his back.  And felt the tremors running through his frame.

"Zechs?"

"Noin."  His fingers wrapped around her hand and squeezed.  

The frown crept back to Noin's face.  "What's wrong?'

"I have to return to earth."

"Relena called again?"  Noin sighed.  "When do you have to leave?  Did she bother to give you any warning this time?"

Zechs shook his head slightly.  "It's not Relena.  It's a friend.  I believe she's in danger."

_Friend?_  Aside from herself and Treize, Noin didn't remember Zechs having many friends.   _And female at that_, a small part of her brain whispered.  Sighing quietly, she tromped on that jealous little thought and tried to turn him in her arms.  When he didn't budge, she slid in front of him and raised a hand to lightly touch his chin.

The bond between them had deepened over the past year since the Dekim Barton debacle.  But, at times, Zechs still closed himself off, hoarding his pain – and secrets – deep inside himself.  Noin figured he still did so out of habit, a desire to protect her and a need to always be in control, to keep a part of Zechs that was only Zechs.  With all the masks, roles and names he'd played, often it was hard for him to discover and hold on to himself.  Noin suspected this friend fell into the latter category.

"Zechs."  She increased the pressure, forcing his eyes to meet hers.  "When do we leave?"

He blinked, startled out of his retreat into the Lightening Count.  "Noin – I don't know how long I'll need to be gone – "

"_We'll_ need to be gone."  She cut him off.  "If you want me to stay behind, I will.  But you don't have to do anything alone ever again.  So, when do we leave?"

Zechs drew a shuddering breath and leaned his forehead against hers.  His hair fell forward, curtaining them.  His arms snaked around her waist, drawing her close.  Noin could almost see the wall he had begun to build crumbling around them.  "Thank you, " he whispered.

"We never have to be alone again, either of us.  I don't plan to let you go just that easily."  She softly kissed his lips and threaded her fingers through his hair, cupping the back of his head.  And for one moment, the world around them ceased to exist.  Then, reluctantly, she pulled back.

"So, how do you know this friend is in danger?"

Zechs' arms dropped and he turned to the end table next to them.  "I actually think she might be dead.  Here."  He handed her a palm viewer and a data slide.

Noin took them, looking a question at Zechs.  He gestured to the couch and sat.  She joined him and cued the slide. The viewer flickered, and a red-headed woman with hazel eyes appeared.

_"There we go_," the woman on the screen leaned back contentedly and smiled.  _"Long time, no see Wind.  But, I have kept some tabs on you, my friend.  And I am immensely happy, even if it did take you long enough._"  The eyes sparkled as a wide grin split her face.  _"About damn time.  I was beginning to think I needed to come there and kick your ass myself.  Thank you for proving me wrong._

_"Anyhow, you'll be intrigued to know that I finally ventured into town, all by my lonesome, I might add. And, whatever did I find!  I came across this club; so-so drinks, but the atmosphere -!  It was enough to knock off your socks.  I had just a terrible time_," she winked and grinned, _"if you know what I mean.  They gave me the name of a restaurant to check out.  Apparently they specialize in after hours dinners.  I just have to dig into the menu.  After all, you know me.  I'll let you know what I turn up.  They may actually make a better stew than you._

_"Oh, and of course, since I'll be in the area, I think I'll stop by that new beauty shop I spotted.  Time for a new do as well._"  A soft beep sounded in the background.  "_Okay my friend.  Have to go take a look at that.  Stay safe – and treat that woman well.  She's better than you deserve._"  The smile reappeared, a little softer and more sincere.  "_I'll try to give you an update in a couple of weeks, even if this place turns out to be a dud.  Keep kickin'_._" _ She saluted the screen and the image died.

Noin lifted an eyebrow.  Several questions buzzed through her mind.  She seized the first.  "That's a call for help?"  She turned to Zechs.  "So, what's the code?"

A small smile tugged at his lips.  "Yes, actually.  Silver's not exactly the party girl.  This tells me that she's found a terrorist cell, has decided to look into them more closely, undercover, on her own.  She thinks they're potentially very dangerous, maybe even more so that White Fang.  And plans to give me an update in a few weeks."

Noin turned back to the smiling woman on the data pad.  "Really.  Then why didn't she just go to the Preventers?  After all, that is why Lady Une formed them, to deal with terrorist threats."

"She was an agent with first the Alliance, then Oz, then broke away.  I believe if she and Une ever come into the same room, blood will flow."

Even more interesting.  The questions just kept coming.  "Okay.  But, still – why not turn the information she had over to the Preventers?  Why investigate on her own?"

He shrugged.  "I don't know.  But, this message was probably her back-up, her attempt to make sure the information would get to the Preventers in case something did happen to her."

Logical.  "How do you know she's in trouble?"

Zechs rubbed at his forehead.  "It's date stamped six weeks ago.  Apparently it was part of the shipment that accidentally went to L3 last month.  According to this, if everything went as scheduled, she should have sent me another message three weeks ago.  Something's wrong, Noin.  I know it."

Noin met his troubled gaze.  This friend meant something to him, something he hadn't told her about – until now.

"When do we leave?"

***

She rolled onto her side, head pillowed on the upper portion of the arm stretched above her.  Her breath came in little sobbing gasps that she wasn't even aware of making, much less controlling.  Her broken left arm, cradle against her chest, throbbed in time with her back.  The rest of her cuts, bruises and aches she couldn't even catalogue anymore.

_Please – to any god that will listen – let him finally lose it and kill me._

She'd almost done it today. Finally she'd taunted him enough. Finally he would draw that damn scalpel across her throat instead of her skin.  But, no.  At the last moment, he'd pulled back.  And returned with the branding iron instead.

Groaning, she tried to move – really.  Tried to get to the bed, or at least the covers trailing over the side.  But her body refused.  Just flat refused (traitor). Unfortunately, it didn't stop her brain from jumping all over the place like a damn frog.

Two weeks. A week?  Hell, it could be a month for all she knew.  When they'd discovered her, three week into her little investigation, the first thing they did was screw with her time sense; meals at random times, breaking her sleep pattern, the constant semi-gray of her cell.  She'd expected it really.  After all, it was the first step of any good torture/interrogator.  _And that bastard knows them all_, she thought.  Those nice first steps, all carried out to soften her up.  Little did they expect she'd spill her guts within the first five minutes, without the prompting.

_"Who are you working for?"_

_She smiled into the glare of the spotlight.  "Nobody." _

_That earned her the first cuff upside the head.  "Who are you working for?"_

_"I'm a freelancer."_

_This time she tasted blood._

_"Although, I'm sure the Preventers would love to know what I know."_

_"Which is?"_

A corner of her mouth quirked.  "Treize use to dance around in women's underwear."

That earned her the first, very professional, beating.  And the personal attention of him.

Ever since she'd given them the truth, lies, half-truths and outright fiction.  Let them figure it out.  She was pretty sure he had already.  It was in his eyes.  The bastard just got off on the pain.

She'd begun insulting the guards the day the broke her arm tossing her back into her cell.  And taunting him seriously the day he broke out the scalpels and mild acid.  So far he hadn't killed her.  She just hoped – prayed – he'd do it before she was as insane as him.

The door to the cell opened, the new light bathing her only a slightly lighter shade of gray.  She hadn't moved from the entrance where they'd dropped her minutes, days, hours ago.

"Time for some more fun, bitch."

Scar Eye.  She knew them all by voice now.  He fumbled at his belt.  "My turn."

He grabbed her by the arm – the broken one, of course – hauling her upright.  A small scream, all she had left really, escaped from her throat.

He met her eyes, and sneered.  "Ah.  Maybe not today.  "  He let go with a little shove.  Pain blossomed where the back of her skull connected with the floor, overridden by the agony from the fresh brand.  

Then blackness.

_Well, what do you think so far?  My first fic, playing with established characters.  Please let me know, good or bad.  Any and all reviews are welcome.  This chapter's a little short; just think of it as an introduction – a good appetizer to warm up the palate.  _


	2. Empty Nest

Chapter 2                Empty Nest

A dark blue SUV cut through the night.  Inside, quiet reigned between the occupants.  Zechs glanced out the corner of his eye to see Noin steadfastly staring out the window at the passing darkness.

Inwardly he signed and tried to relax the fingers clenched around the steering wheel.  Silver's smile, as he'd last seen her, filled his mind's eye and anxiety flooded through him.  Something was wrong – very wrong.  She never should have gone on a mission solo, never mind that she didn't want another partner.  It was plain stupid to rely on inter-colony mail for a fail-safe.  _Damn all stubborn women!_ he thought angrily.

Then sighed and glanced again at another stubborn woman at his side.  _And loyal_, his mind whispered._  And smart, and brave, and supportive of every bull-headed thing you ever did._

She'd packed while he spoke with the foreman to cover their work on Mars, then arranged transport back to Earth.  Sometimes, being brother to a world leader had its perks.  They left by mid-afternoon.  Questions were pushed aside in the rush to leave as soon as possible.  When they finally had the time, the closed shuttle definitely was not the place.  Zechs saw wry acknowledgment, along with curiosity in Noin's eyes before she succumbed to sleep.

Eventually he disciplined his own body to rest.  Like any good soldier, he took sleep when offered.  But, his dreams had been – disturbed.

"We should reach Silver's cabin shortly."  He finally screwed up the courage to break the silence.

"Who is she Zechs?" Noin asked quietly.  And why didn't you tell me about her?  He winced at the unspoken question.

"After my rather spectacular failure to stop Libra, she found Epyon.  Took me in, patched up my wounds, whither I wanted it or no.  Gave me time to heal.  And to hide."  A slight frown pulled at his brows.  That description seemed somewhat … paltry, if succinct.  

"Then I guess I have a lot to thank her for."  Noin's hand covered his own and squeezed.

He let go of the wheel briefly to squeeze back.  Gratefully.  "The Silver Angel and the Red Devil.  They worked intelligence for both the Alliance, then Oz."

Noin shook her head slightly.  "I don't remember them."

"We wouldn't.  We were the Specials, Noin.  Treize's shinning example.  The elite.  They were the underside of our glory.  They carried out all the darker missions, the espionage, the black ops."

"The assignations?"

He nodded.  "However, like so many of Oz's resources, once their liabilities out-weighed their usefulness, Oz disposed of them."

"Sounds familiar."

"Hmmmmm."   Images of Antarctica, of that last battle as a member of Oz, fighting Oz, flittered through his mind.  "Lady Une personally briefed them for that mission.  The Angel barely crawled out of the wreckage.  The Devil didn't.

"Silver chose to run and hide, using the money they'd skimmed from their ops through the years and her fairly extensive skills to bury herself deep.  Only recently has she started to act again, using her hacker abilities to monitor world events, keeping her own eye out for problems."

"Who does she work for?"

"No one.  She operates on a free-lance basis, you could say."

Noin frowned, old habits and instincts kicking in.  An agent with the skills this Silver must have, without an authority to answer to, could be dangerous.  Even the Gundums had answered to the colonies and the scientists who'd sent them.

Zechs saw it.  "I trust her, Noin, her motives and her judgment.  Although, I may have to change my mind after this," he added in a mutter.  _What the hell was she thinking…_

With effort he cut off the circle that thought had become.  "There's Silver's road."

Noin lifted an eyebrow as they turned onto the narrow, one car lane.  "She has her own road?"

"Actually, we've been on her land for the last ten minutes or so."  He beat Noin to the next question.  "When the operations don't officially exist, accounting is a little … hazy."

"Really."  

Zechs could hear faint disapproval in that tone.  And signed again.  _Just tell her you fool…_

"You should know about Winter, as well."  _Coward._

"Winter?  Zechs, it's the middle of spring.  I know the mountain seasons can be extreme, but – "

"Not the weather.  Silver has only one friend who lives with her permanently.  Winter, the wolf."

"A wolf?"

He nodded.  "The biggest and most intelligent wolf I've ever seen."

"And you've seen so many," she replied dryly.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.  "Touché.  However, once I met Winter, and became fairly certain he wouldn't eat me, I did some research.  Given some of what Silver dropped, and Winter's own skills, I believe someone, somewhere, tampered with him genetically."

"What can he do?  Stand on his hind legs and talk?"

Zechs did laugh at that image.  "No.  But, he understands everything around him, Noin.  And he has ways of making his feelings known."

"But, genetic engineering?  On a wolf?"

"Why not?  We're fairly certain Heero was engineered in some way.  Do you think Doctor J started with human subjects?  And while those scientists were the only ones brilliant, or crazed, enough to develop the Gundums, they're not the only ones willing to mess with creation."

He could almost hear Noin chewing on that thought as they topped the last ridge.  However, at her gasp of wonder, he stopped the SUV altogether.

"It's beautiful."

Silver chose her home carefully.  Light from the full moon flooded the valley below them, sparkling off the small pond at the edge of meadow and the creek that fed it.  The outbuildings dotted the landscape at the edge of the darkened tree line.  Yet, the cabin nestled at the foot of a sheer cliff drew the eye.

"It almost completely blends with the environment."

Zechs murmured agreement.  "Silver had it specially commissioned and built.  I believe the attempt at balance on the outside is part of her attempt to regain her balance on the inside."

"Amazing."

"Indeed."  He put the vehicle back into gear and started to down to the valley floor.

++++

++++

++++

Antiseptic.  Cool metal under her cheek.  The faint squeak of rubber soles on tile flooring.  Tuneless whistling as damp cloths were laid over her back.  With effort, she opened her eyes, and confirmed her surroundings.  

The infirmary.

"Patching me up again, huh Doc?"  Her voice sounded raw even to her own ears.

The whistling broke off.  "Awake finally?"  A pair of kaki clad legs moved into her line of vision.  Cold fingers professionally checked the IV dripping into her right arm.  "Things would be easier if you simply told him what he wants to know."

A choke rasped out of her throat, her poor facsimile of a chuckle.  "He already has the information he wants, Doc.  This is just for fun.  We both know that."

The doctor over her withdrew enough so that she could see his face.  Blond eyebrows drew together in a frown, and for the briefest of moments, concern, guilt and even anger flashed across his eyes.  Abruptly, he turned.

"I know no such thing.  We need the information you have.  The Commander said so.  If you simply told us – "

"Please.  Doc, you've seen me how many times now?  Lie to yourself, but don't lie to me. How cleanly did he manage to brand me?"

The doctor winced.  Then his shoulders straightened and he turned with syringe and needle in hand.  "These antibiotics should nip any infection in the bud."  Carefully he pushed the needle into the valve on the IV tubing and depressed the plunger.  "I'll let the topical medication work on your back for a while longer before applying the new bandages."  He turned to busy himself at the tray out of her line of sight.

"Why?" she asked quietly.

"Excuse me?"

"Why?  Why do you patch me up after ever 'session'?"

"Every life should be cherished, even an enemy's."

"And, what he does to me is cherishing life?"

Silence.  Then, the quiet click of the door closing behind her.

Silver sighed and closed her eyes.  It was worth the shot.  The guilt was beginning to get to him.  She'd just have to keep working on him, as well as Him.  Maybe one of these days, she'd _finally_ push one of them the right way.

Experimentally, she moved her shoulders as much as the restraints to her wrists would allow.  No pain.  Doc must have hit her up with a pain killer before she woke.  Damn good stuff, whatever it was.  Not only did it kill the pain of the brand on her back, but everything else as well.  And that was a lot of pain.

Grunting more from habit than effort, she turned her head to the left.  Amazing.  _He actually allowed the Doc to splint it_, she thought.  At least her arm now had a chance to heal correctly.

Then she snorted bitterly.  Hell, a mis-healed arm should be the last of her worries.  Sighing, she closed her eyes and took stock of the current situation.  Even with the current euphoria the drugs had given her, she could picture every cut, every burn (acid and otherwise), every bruise exactly.  It wasn't long now.  I _couldn't_ be long now.

Please God.  Something had to give.

Unfortunately, years of survival training made an active death wish … difficult.

With a deep, pain-free breath, she began to go over all the corridors she'd seen again, trying to reconcile everything with the maps in her head.

Something had to give.

***

***

***

 Zechs stood at the base of the cabin's front steps and inhaled deeply.  The air in Silver's valley was still sweet, still untouched by man's pollution.  A slight breeze played with the ends of his trench coat, and rustled through the grass behind him.  Peace flowed through the meadow and around him.

But the cabin before him remained dark.  Uninhabited.  Untouched, for far too long.  And the cold that seeped in with that though chilled him more than the mountain air.

_Feh__.__  Enough build up.  Get inside already, you idiot._

He just started up the stairs when a low growl rumbled from the darkness of the porch.  Pausing on the second step, Zechs waited.

"Hello Winter."

A wolf padded out into the moonlight at the head of the stairs.  Behind him, Noin's quick intake of breath was almost masked by her move for her firearm.

"Don't," he said quietly.  "It's okay.  Isn't it Winter?"  He moved up another step and held out a hand for inspection.  Two years had passed since he'd seen either Silver or Winter in person, but he gambled that the large lupine would remember him.

The low rumbled still came, more felt than heard, but Winter moved forward to sniff the offered hand.  The gamble paid off as Winter looked Zechs up and down, then sat and transferred his unblinking stare to Noin, still at the car.

"She's a friend Winter.  My wife."

The yellow gaze flickered between man and woman as Zechs held out a hand for Noin to join him.  She confidently took it, but he could feel the fingers tremble in his grasp.  Winter padded down two steps, so that his head was just below Noin's.  For a moment, he locked eyes with her, and took several hearty sniffs.  The rumble in his chest died, and he nodded once, definitively. 

"Thank you," Zechs replied softly.

"My God," Noin breathed next to him as Winter turned to the door.  "The intelligence…"

He squeezed her hand once more, then moved up the rest of the stairs.  Winter scratched lightly at the door handle and wined softly in the back of his throat.   Zechs reached a hand to the security panel next to the door.  After allowing his fingers to rest briefly on the cool touch screen, he turned to Noin and cupped her face in his hands.

"Have I thanked you yet for coming with me?"

She frowned.  "Wha –"

He leaned in, brushed a kiss along her lips, up her jaw and paused at her ear.  "Something's wrong," he breathed, his lips hidden by her jaw and his hair.  "Silver's security system is dead."

Noin made an appropriate murmured back.

"There's a door to the kitchen on the right side, three-quarters of the way down."

She nodded, brushing her cheek along his.  "You know, love, I think I saw an excellent variety of _coniferous extraneous_ just on the other side of the house."

He chuckled.  "And you want to check it out before we even get inside."

She smiled back, teasingly.  "You know me too well."  The intent look in her eyes belied the smile.  "I won't be too long."

"Okay."  He planted a kiss in her palm and she retreated down the stairs.  "Let's go Winter."

He confidently pushed the door, one hand on the gun strapped to the small of his back.  Someone was in Silver's home, someone good enough to disable her security and lock out Winter.

Moonlight flooded in from the large windows lining the top of the cathedral ceiling of the front room.  Silver's living and dining space was immense, built to her specifications – and very open.  Winter slithered by Zech's legs and shot up the stairs to the second story.  Zechs advance a couple of more steps into the room, towards the kitchen and office in the back before pausing.

Nothing.  Yet.

Slowly he scanned the room, eyes searching out the shadowed corners and crevices.  The miniscule scrape warned him.

He whirled, gun outstretched, only to find a man in a similar position only a few feet from him.  

"Who the hell are you?" they asked in unison.

_Okay, what do you think everyone?  Yes, definitely a Noin/Zechs fic – please read and review!! It's not pretty when I start to beg!!_


	3. Ghosts

Chapter 3

Noin turned away, the back of her neck crawling with the thought of that creature still at the door with Zechs.  Resolutely, she shoved the thought down.  Her husband obviously trusted the wolf, and she'd trusted Zechs for a very long time now.

She bounced down the steps and turned the corner, just as Zechs disappeared through the unlocked door.  She immediately spotted the kitchen entrance, but made a small show of sighing over the trees to the right of it.

After a few, appropriate, moments, she turned and moved up the stairs leading to back to the cabin – or rather house, from her point of view.  Lord, it seemed bigger than their original barracks back on Mars!  Once within the sheltering shadows of the overhang, she eased her handgun from its shoulder harness.  The knob turned stiffly under her hand, but eventually gave with a minimum of fuss.  The door closed behind her with a small click, and she briefly leaned against it, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkened room.

High quality appliances and professional quality cookware lined the walls and hung from specialty racks.  Any other time, she would have paused to appreciate the quality and the thought obviously put into the kitchen.  

Instead, old instincts kicked in.  Noting the location of potential weapons, she glided across the tile floor, her hiking boots making little sound.  A large section of the wall between the living space and the kitchen was cut away, a continuation of the fluidity the built into the structure.  Noin shifted accordingly, keeping to the shadows and out of the line of sight of anyone in the living room.

"Who the hell are you?"  Twinned male voices caused her to catch her breath.

Cautiously, she peered around the edge of the cut away.  Moonlight from the windows lining the front of the house flooded the room.  And, clearly outlined two men, guns at the ready, in identical poses.  The intruder looked nothing like Zechs, with short, dark hair and rugged features, but he held his ground with the same easy confidence of the former Oz soldier.

A stand off.

Without seeing it, Noin could feel each evaluating the other as best as possible in the dim light.  She knew her husband's abilities, even after a year away from active war.  Unfortunately, this stranger seemed just as capable.

Silence stretched, and her own pulse increased with the added tension.  Finally – 

"Who are you?" the stranger asked.

"A friend," Zechs replied.

The other snorted.  "Friends don't normally break in with loaded weapons."

Zechs raised an eloquent eyebrow.  And waited.

Just as Noin began contemplating going out there to make _something_ happen, she heard it.  A low rumble.  A growl that almost vibrated the ceiling above her.  A glance to the left confirmed the stairs leading to the second story.

"Why don't we let Winter decide?" Quiet amusement ran through Zechs' tone.

Suddenly, a dark shape plummeted from the landing over her head.  The wolf landed lightly (how did he _do _that!) in the still open doorway and spun to face the two men.

"Winter knows me.  How about you?"

He advanced on the pair, glowing yellow eyes locked on the intruder.  With effort, Noin tore her eyes away from the wolf, to gauge the other's reaction.

The stranger stared back, attention focused away from Zechs.  But, the blonde man didn't take advantage of the distraction.  Instead, he kept his gaze focused on his opponent, waiting, apparently for Winter to pass judgment.

Noin hissed to herself in annoyance.  A perfect opportunity to take down the enemy, and he turned it over to a wolf!  Granted, a very smart, very large wolf, but still _a wolf_…  

And one who never spared Zechs a second glance.  The intruder lowered his gun reluctantly, finally allowing it dangle from one finger.  "Winter?"

Winter leaped lightly up onto the nearby couch, meeting the man eye-to-eye.  After a few, electric, heartbeats, the growl subsided again, but the yellow gaze never moved.

"Well," Zechs finally lowered his own gun.  "Guess Winter does recognize you.  Beside which, you know she's going to hate it when she learns you've been on the furniture."

The wolf flicked an ear in Zechs' direction.

The other man took a deep breath and shouldered his firearm.  "You could have taken me, used the split second of Winter's arrival.  But, you let him decide."

"He's a good judge of character."

"Hmmm."  He flicked another glance at the still unmoving lupine.  "I am a friend of Angel's too."

"A friend who feels the need to disable her security and lock out her roommate?"

The guns were down, but the tension remained.  Noin left her own weapon at the ready.

"I've been here for three days without any sign of her. This was the easiest way to find out where she is. Plus, I didn't know it was Winter out there."

"You couldn't leave a note?"  The chill in Zechs' voice rivaled the night air outside.

The other laughed.  "Not this kind of note.  Who are you?"

"She calls me Wind."

The other man smiled in appreciation.  "She calls me partner."

Zechs' hand tightened around his gun.  _Partner!_  "Impossible.  Her partner's dead."

"That rumor is somewhat exaggerated.  Call me Devil."  He bowed with a small flourish.  

"I repeat, the Red Devil died two years ago.  Silver herself saw it."

Devil quirked a brow.  "Guess you've spoken with her, at least.  Mind if we hold this conversation in the light, without loaded guns and," he turned to Winter, "death glares?"

The wolf sneezed.

Zechs drew a breath. "All right," he finally conceded.  The man was obviously known to Winter, meaning he could be a friend, or at least not an enemy.  "Come on out Fire."

Noin emerged into the light of the cut-out between him and the kitchen.  Her expression remained blank, but he could see the annoyance in her eyes.  And the still cocked gun in her hand.

Devil turned with a start, the chuckled ruefully.  "I had a feeling she wasn't the quiet-wait-in-the-car type."  The man moved to close the door and the light panel beside it.

Noin emerged from the doorway to the kitchen, gun finally holstered.  "Wind, is this a good idea?" she asked lowly.

"For now, yes."

Shaking her head, she followed him to the chairs framing the large, stone fireplace.  He was also pretty sure that gun wasn't secured in that holster.

Lights flickered around various parts of the room as the Devil attempted to find the right switch.  Winter's tail twitched as he settled on the hearthstone, still watching the dark-haired man.

Zechs paused at the deep blue, overstuffed armchair positioned to catch the right amount of heat, had there been a fire, and within arm's reach of the poker.  The memory of Silver, snuggled in its depths, bathed in the glow of the flames and glass of wine in hand, flashed over him.

"Geez, Wind.  If you don't stop wearing a path in my floor I'm going to have to tackle you."

He shook his head briefly, clearing the memory, and turned to the concerned look in Noin's eyes.  He lifted a corner of his mouth.  "It's okay," he whispered, and handed her into the seat.  He sat on the hearth, next to Winter.  Unobtrusively, a tail laid itself across his thighs.

Devil came back and plunked himself down into the only other chair.  "Guess when you're the only one living here, there's no need to label the lights."  His bright smiled died somewhat in the impassivity of Zechs and Noin.

"If you are the Devil," Zechs asked, "how did you survive?"

The smiled died completely.  "By luck.  The beam Angel thought killed me, only mostly crushed me.  Somehow my upper body fell into a … gap, of sorts, protecting me from the worst of the weight.  Two days passed before someone finally dug me out.  It was three months before I could walk.  Almost six before I remembered who I was.

"My benefactors told me no-one had escaped."  He laughed, a bitter sound.  "I had to regain my memory to fully experience that pain.  After all, no one around knew who I was, or that the Angel should have been with me.  It was like someone ripped my heart out," he finished softly.

"Your benefactors?"  

"Villagers.  Natives of the country Angel and I had been sent to 'soften' up, allowing Oz to move in.  I've been living on my own, traveling the world and the colonies, just trying to stay out of the way of all governments, ever since.  Hell, I accidentally stumbled across one of the old account codes, just last month, and saw the activity.  It took me weeks to track it, and another four days to get here."

Noin frowned slightly, but remained silent.  He filed away her reaction for later discussion.

"So, we know each other.  Who's she?"  The other man's dark eyes took in Noin from head to toe.  And back again.

Zechs saw the annoyance flare in her eyes.  But, her face fell into its best highly-displeased-academy-instructor look.  The school-boy grin slid off the Devil's face.

"Call me Fire," she answered coolly.  "_His partner."_

"Let me guess, a friend of Angel's too, huh?"

Noin raised one eyebrow and gazed impassively back. 

Devil met her eyes, and eventually gave her a little salute before returning his attention to Zechs.  "Now," he leaned forward, "how do you know Angel?"

"She pried me out of my mobile suit after the Eve Wars, and patched me up.  We've stayed in contact on and off ever since."

"And, what?  You two just decided to pop in for a visit?"

Zechs hesitated, uncertain how much to tell this man.  

The Devil's face stilled, all joviality gone.  "I'd been here for days before I let myself in.  And this place feels like it hasn't seen body or soul for weeks.  So, what happened?"

Zechs let out a long breath.  "Silver sent me a message almost two months ago.  I believe I was her back up in case a mission went south."

"What?"  Devil reared back in his chair, eyes wide.  "Dammit, I thought she took herself out of the game.  I may not have her skills with computer, nor her endemic memory for contacts but the information I did find indicated she'd buried herself good and deep and had no intention of coming out again."

"Seems something made her stir.  I should have received a second message from her three weeks ago.  It never came."

"And you waited this long to come here?"  The Devil shot to his feet, anger blazing from his eyes.  "You, her _friend_?"

Winter's chest rumbled silently.  Zechs put a calming hand on the wolf's ruff.  He met the other man's eyes stoically.  "I only received the first message a day ago.  That second message never came."

"Sorry," The other man sagged back into his chair and rubbed a hand over his face.  "But, it's highly ironic.  I finally find her, just to have her go missing.  What the hell was she thinking…"

Zechs smiled wryly.  "I've asked myself that same question."

"So," Devil looked up, eyes boring into Zechs'.  "So, did this first message say what to do if the second never arrived?"

"Not explicitly, no."

Devil groaned.  "Of course not.  And she was always telling me the simpler the plan, the better."  He ran a hand through his short hair, spiking it even more.  "I know Angel.  Data, information, records were life blood to her.  She must have kept something, somewhere, for you – especially if she sent you a message."

Zechs grunted.  He'd come to the same conclusion on Mars.

"Now, where?"

Zechs looked down to Winter at his side.  Yellow eyes flickered between the two men, but no definitive movement. "Letting me handle this on, huh?" he murmured.

This time the ear flicked twice.

"Fine."  Brushing the tail off his legs, he stood.  His companions jerked their gazes back to him; Devil's from the floor, Noin from narrow-eyed inspection of Devil.

"I know."

"Time to go."

Silver raised her head from the pillow of her hands.  Lying on her stomach was the only semi-comfortable position shed found in the hours since her release from the infirmary.  Just enough time for the brand to start burning again.

The young guard in her doorway jerked the sub-machine gun in his hands.  With a small sigh, she slid over the edge of the bed and rose to her feet as gracefully as possible.  He swallowed nervously and backed away as she approached. For one, brief moment she allowed herself the fantasy of taking down the youngster, and getting the hell out of here.  But his compatriots flanking the door would be on her after three steps.  And she couldn't take out all three, not and win, not in this state.   

She fell into step, one guard before her, two behind.  Always the same pattern.  Always the same path.  It was almost enough to make you insane.  But, not quite.

Silently they marched through the halls, to the familiar interrogation room.  The two, older guards kept their weapons trained on her while youngster strapped her to the only chair in the center of the room.  By the looks of the tray off to the right, drugs were the instruments of choice today.

"So, why are you here?" she asked quietly.

Youngster jerked back as if she'd struck him.

"Wha- what?"

"I asked why you're here.  What's this cause to you?"

He pulled the restraints in place, fumbling with the buckles slightly.  But, he stayed focusing on the task at hand.  Or, so it seemed.

"Everyone has a reason.  The dog died.  The wife ran off.  The government's evil.  The war.  Hell, the wars."

His startlingly blue eyes tightened.

"But, people die everyday in wars.  That's what people do.  They fight.  And die."

"Civilians don't fight," he said thickly.

"In battle, everyone's fair game."  She paused.  "Even colonies."

"They couldn't defend themselves!  Not against that Gundum – "

"Ebren."

Youngster – Ebren – gulped and stumbled away.

"And, if I told you I was a Gundum pilot, Ebren?"  Silver called softly.  "That I piloted the Zero system that destroyed your colony?"

Hate twisted his young features before he turned and stiffly saluted the officer in the doorway.

Who saluted back off-handedly, and dismissed all three guards.  He sauntered fully into the room as the door closed.

"Well, well, well.  The Silver Angel, in the flesh."

"Or what's left of it.  What are you doing here Cold?"

"Somebody's got to pay the bills."  He paused a few feet away, legs spread, arms crossed over his chest.  Other than the tan uniform she was truly begin to despise, Cold Strike hadn't changed much in the three years since she'd seen him last.  Same raven hair, same grey eyes that spawn his moniker.

"So, why are you here Angel?  No one's hears anything from you in almost two years.  I'm pretty sure there's a pool on whether or not you cashed in with the Devil."

"Which way did you vote?"

He grinned.  "I made my money."

"Of course."

"And you didn't answer the question."

Silver gave a bark of laughter.  "Hell, I've answered the question right from the beginning.  Why am I anywhere, Cold?  It ain't a secret."

"Information."  He grinned.

She grinned back, if baring your teeth could be called a grin.  

"Some things never change."  True amusement danced through his eyes.  "For whom?"

"No one.  Like I've also said before, I'm freelance, Cold."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Come on, Angel.  One professional to another.  You just decided to infiltrate an organization like the Black Rose for kicks and giggles?  With no one paying you?"

"No one has to pay me, Cold.  Unlike you, I don't have a taste for fast women, fast cars and losing horses."

He chuckled outright.  "Cute.  True, but cute.  So, where the info Angel?  Intel figures you had at least two days to rummage through the system before they caught you.  You and I know that's plenty of time for you to gather all sorts of lovely tid-bits."

She shrugged as much as the restraints allowed.  Seeing Cold Strike, this discussion, was a tactic she hadn't expected.  But, once again, it was also a classic.

"Where's the cache?"

"Been through my rooms?"  He snorted.  And she grinned again back.  "My information, Cold. I stole it fair and square.  Why should I give it back?  Not like you're letting me out of here any time soon to give it to anyone, now are you?"

"Because he'll keep at it, Cyn."  The grin was gone, seriousness replacing the banter in his eyes.

"He'll keep at it anyhow Adam.  He'll stop when his toy's broke.  The information is a convenient excuse.  We both know that."  She saw the recognition in his eyes, the same truth mirrored back to her.  It was actually somewhat comforting.  He was currently working for the enemy, but, finally, here was someone with a grasp on the reality of her situation.

Cold Strike, Adam Tresky, old, and sometimes trusted friend, squatted in front of her chair, putting them almost at eye level.

"Then turn.  Work with me.  He won't touch you then."

Sorry for the slight delay in updating – my computer finally went to the doctor, taking much longer than anticipated!  Much appreciation to those who have reviewed my work so far.  I hate begging for more reviews, it tends to make me look so desperate… But, hey, why mess with reality?  Reviews are always received with wonder and joy.  And, I'll even write back with thank yous if you have an email address.  J  


	4. Reflections

Chapter 4                 Reflections

Non's attention flickered between the two men before her.  Except for the Devil's brief, insolent, inspection, they pretty much ignored her completely.  Which suited her just fine.  For now, Zechs had point on this mission; she was back up.

While they talked, she took stock of the stranger.  He was tall, almost the same height as Zechs, and moved with the same lethal grace of a panther.  But, something in his eyes didn't always match the smirk on his face.

Inwardly, Noin sighed.  This whole scene had an almost dream-like quality.  Here they sat, chatting with a dangerous stranger, who, she was certain, would cheerfully kill them if he thought it was a good idea.  All because of a friend she didn't know about until yesterday and on the word of a wolf.  _Good Lord, the things I do for love, she thought resignedly._

"She must have kept something, somewhere, for you – especially if she sent you a message? Now, where?"  The Red Devil ran his hand through his hair.

Zechs exchanged glances with the beast curled at his side, then stood.  "I know," he said calmly.  The Devil started, while Noin met his gaze with equal calm.  A smile touch the corner of his mouth.  The he turned and strode into the kitchen.  The wolf leapt lightly off the hearth to follow and the Devil scrambled out of his chair.  With a rueful shake of her head, Noin brought up the rear of this little caravan.

She entered the kitchen in time to see a section of the wall holding hanging pots and pans swing open.  Shaking his head, the Devil walked forward.

"Trust Angel," he murmured.

Zechs opened the door fully and lights flickered to life.  A short flight of steps greeted them and curved to the right.  Zechs led the way down, and as Noin turned the corner, the breath caught in her throat.  The short tunnel opened into a large, well lit room.  Around them, servers, monitors and various computer parts hummed, beeped and blinked quietly to themselves.  To Noin's untrained eye, enough power existed in this room to make every hacker in Preventer's HQ drool.

Or sweat.

The Devil shook his head.  "Amazing.  She actually built it."  He caught Zechs' inquiring glance.  "She always wanted a system like this, built to her specifications.  But, we never had a permanent base to trust with anything of this magnitude."

"Indeed."  Zechs walked to what appeared to be the main console and keyboard.  "if she left a message, it should be here."

"Agreed."  The other man slid into the massive swivel chair, fingers moving over the keyboard.

Suddenly, Noin started at the brush of something soft across the back of her hand.  She jerked her gaze down to see the wolf – Winter – pressing against her leg.  He glanced up at her briefly, with … reassurance in those yellow eyes?

"Ah, here," the Devil murmured at the computer console.  Unconsciously, Noin moved up next to Zechs, flanking the seated man.  "Angel was rather thorough in her file system.  Everything tended to be compartmentalized, with each file system having its own password.  However, she did have one for me…"

The keys clicked under the man's fingers as he typed, glowing dots on the screen representing the password.  Then, that box slide away, replaced by another.  

_Access denied.  _

The dark-haired man slumped back in the chair. "Didn't think that would work, what with her thinking I'm dead.  But, it was worth a shot."

Beside her, Zechs shifted.  "How was her system arranged?" he asked softly.

The Devil glanced up questioningly at Zechs' reflection in the monitor.  "Before, Angel linked the appropriate files to certain passwords.  If there was something she wanted me to have access to, the file would link to my personal password.  Additionally, if she had information related to a mission, all related files would be linked under the password for that mission.  Things were cross-linked sometimes, but it made sense to her and always seemed to work.  This," he gestured to the screen before him, "was her domain."

"So, it's not a matter of finding the right files, then imputing a password, rather the other way around."

"Unless she's changed things, yes.  Did she provide you with an access code?"

"May I?"

The other man pushed back and rose fluidly from the chair.  "By all means."

Her husband settled into the vacated space, eyes shadowed.  Noin fought the urged to go to him, to simply rest a hand on his shoulder.  To let him know he still wasn't alone.  She could see the turmoil in the set of his shoulders, even if his face remained impassive.  But the unknown factor in the room held her back.  It wasn't good tactics to show so much to an unknown operative.

Really.  It was only because she didn't trust the stranger.

Really.

A drawn-out breath, a slight sigh, drew her attention back to Zechs.  She saw his lips move slightly in the reflection.  Then, he met her eyes while he typed.

_Access granted._

The black password box disappeared, and an image digitized.  Once again, a woman appeared on the screen before them, only this time her vibrant red hair was bleached blonde and cut in a bob around her face.

_"Well, damn.  Not exactly the way I wanted to see you again Wind."  Her black bomber jacked rustled fainted as she leaned forward to rest her arms on the console before her.  The same servers currently behind Noin blinked softly on the screen behind the woman._

The Silver Angel.

Noin found herself wondering what her real name was.  

_"Okay, here's the low down.  I recently stumbled across a group on the 'net calling themselves the Black Rose.  Just another bunch of idiot anarchists running their mouths off in the supposed anonymity of cyber space, I thought at first.  All the usual hoopla and stupid rhetoric.  But, then they disappeared.  Intrigued, I tracked their moves through the 'net, figuring the Preventers must have finally caught wind of them._

_"No such luck.  They turned off their own servers, shut down their own sites without any government or authoritative body telling them too.  No records of reports, no petitions against them – none of the usual stuff done to get the idiots out.  And that worried me._

_"So, I dug a little deeper.  Turns out I caught just the beginning of their little tirade, back before they were organized.  It's taken me a couple of weeks to fully track everything – they've got some good people on their end now – but, this looks__ like a full fledged terrorist organization.  I found a good chunk of the money, held in some of the same banks holding mine, which I find highly ironic.  And now they seem to have a leader, someone smart enough to realize that rants on the internet will not get them what they want.  I've caught a couple of random emails, nothing that will hold up in any court, of course.  But, enough to make me nervous.  They had a decided familiar ring to them."  She grinned ruefully._

With a small start, Noin remembered.  This woman use to be black ops, as close to a government-sanction terrorist as it gets.  And the man beside her claimed to be her partner.

She sneaked a quick look to her left.  The Red Devil stared at the screen with an almost physical intensity.

_"It looks like they have a main base somewhere in what used to be __Eastern Europe__.  One of the old Slavic states.  I haven't been able to get anymore information out remotely.  In fact, I've triggered a couple of alarms, but none of their traces are good enough to find me here.  What information I have is all circumstantial, nothing substantive.  But, every instinct I have tells me these people are bad news.  _

_"Now, the good news is they appear to take in every malcontent that comes their way.  Not to the highest levels, of course."  She snorted.__  "That would make my job far too easy.  But, if I can get on base, I'm sure I can find a computer center with enough power and access for me to get behind the damn firewall they put up.  That thing is amazing!  It has a rotating frequency, and modulating bandwidth, plus – I can see your eyes glazing over."  The Silver Angel grinned again, merriment dancing in her eyes._

Then the merriment dimmed.  _"Okay, all the information I have so far is located in the secondary files behind this one.  The money trail, the communications records, the location of the compound, what identities I've dug up, etc.  When I go in, I'll leave another cache location to send anything substantial I might find.  It's marked on the map and has a small GPS transmitter.  I found an old and low-key frequency.  It shouldn't raise any red-flags.  As much as I hate to say it, download everything and get it to Une."  She brought up clasped hands and rested her chin on the knuckles.  __"I can hear you already, 'Damn fool woman.  What the hell was she thinking going in alone?'"  She shrugged.  __"We both know why I'm still alone.  I'm not ready to take on anther person again.  Not yet.  If you were…  Bah.  Never mind."  Briefly, her eyes closed._

When they opened, sadness and an acceptance gleamed in them.  _"We both know why you're here, Wind.  I'm not back and we know what that means.  If I'm not dead, then I might as well be.  And you damn well better NOT attempt a rescue mission.  I spent far too much money patching your hide back together for you to throw it away on me!  Get the info, get the cache and go back to your life with that woman of yours.  She waited far too long for you.  If you leave her again, this time because of me, I will never forgive you."  _

The Silver Angel leaned forward, and Noin's breath caught in her chest at the depth and mixture of emotions blazing in the other woman's face.  _"I mean it, Wind.  You're important to me.  And, if you blow this now that you've finally found and accepted it…"  She swallowed, and blinked several times.  __"At least one of us deserves some happiness._

_"Okay, a few last things.  My will is also part of the secondary files.  My lawyers are in __Geneva__.  All the information you'll need to contact them is part of the data.  Don't worry; they're good and highly discrete.  They work for me, don't they?  Basically, all legal mumble-jumble aside, everything I got, is yours buddy."  A small, sad smile tugged at her lips.  __"And I can already see your reaction.  But, I don't have anyone else to leave my ill-gotten gains to.  Use them any way you want.  I'd recommend holding on the land for now – you never know, someday you may want to return and settle down.  This place qualifies nicely as neutral territory for new beginnings._

_"Since I know he has to be there by now, with his paws up on the console – Winter is his own wolf, as we both know all too well.  He may choose to follow you; he may not.  However, his valley is the only part set aside.  Nothing will touch that.  _

_"Well, I think that's it, finally.  Time to go argue with Winter as to why__ he can't come with me.  I would have loved to seen your face one more time.  Who knows, maybe all will go okay, and you'll never see this.  But, in case… I never actually said it, but you helped me as much as I helped you.  Keep that in your heart for me, my friend.  Love well.  Live long.  Stay safe."  With a small salute, the screen went dark, then filled with a file tree of the secondary information._

Silence filled the room.

He crouched in front of the Silver Angel, Cynthia Farlan, old and sometimes trusted friend.  She looked like holy hell.  The broken left arm, the split lip, the blackened eye – He shook his head to stop the catalogue of injuries.

"Then turn.  Work with me.  He won't touch you then."

Her good eye widened and her jaw dropped.  "What?"

He gazed steadily back in return.

"Cold, you _can't be serious.  Why would your superiors condone that?"_

"Because you're good at what we do, Angel.  The Rose seriously lacks trained intelligence officers.  Your skills are valuable."

She snorted, a harsh sound, then winced.  "They could forgive my infiltration of their compound, hacking into their systems, and rooting around in their secrets?"

"If I make a good enough case.  What – working with me that horrible?"  He grinned cockily.

She closed her eyes and allowed her head to sag.  A faint urge to touch her, to simply smooth away some of the dried blood at the corner of her mouth ran through him.  The silence between them deepened.  A heartbeat.  Two.  Three.  Then, the battered woman before him drew a ragged sigh.  

"I can't.  God help me, I actually contemplated it – but, I can't."

This time he did move, gave into the impulse.  He shifted forward and gently cupped her cheek.  Her eyes shot open at the contact.  "I had a feeling Angel.  But it was worth a shot."

"Angel died two years ago, Cold."

"I had a feeling about that too, Cyn."

"You know, you're probably the last person to remember my original name."  _To remember me, he heard the unspoken thought._

"I think that goes both ways."

They locked eyes and he nodded.  Something shifted in her, part of the mask of the Silver Angel he'd always known cracked, allowing her vulnerability and desperation to come through.  "Cold, I – "  She swallowed.  "I – I can't… Could –"

"Well, isn't this cozy?"

A nasal voice snapped across them like a whip.  The mask snapped back into place, sealing over any cracks so completely Adam almost wondered if he'd seen them to begin with.  He felt his own face harden in response.

Holding Angel – Cynthia's – gaze, he rose fluidly to his feet.  _How'd that damn fool get in without making a noise? he berated himself.  He'd been out of the field for far too long.  Slips like that would kill him.  With a final, short nod to Cyn's suddenly shielded eyes, he turned._

The newcomer was of average height, and average build, with a hawk nose that dominated his face.  But, it was his eyes you remembered, that caused most people to shiver behind his back; they were cold, black and flat.

"Taking an interest in interrogation now Strike?"

Adam met the other man's eyes directly.  "On occasion, Sulkoff."

"Oh, that's right," the other smirked.  "You're both from the same intelligence background.  Possible you knew each other?"

"Possible."

"Care to assist?"

"Actually, I have a post-debrief meeting with the Commander.  Maybe later I'll take a more… active interest."  He brushed by the interrogator and frowned as the door closed behind him.  Well, he hadn't expected Cyn to take him up on the offer; of the two, the Devil was always the more –  pragmatic.

Shrugging his shoulders to settle his uniform, he continued down the corridor.

Zechs sat in stunned shock, staring at the list of files scrolling down the screen.  With an uncharacteristically ungraceful lurch, he fumbled at the keyboard.  "The scouting reports," he mumbled, "who they are, what she was heading into – "

"And _where she was heading.  Don't forget the map," the Devil cut in, pointing out the appropriate file._

Zechs nodded curtly, concentration focused on the screen.  Which suddenly went blank.

"Actually," Noin said calmly as two pairs of irritated male eyes swung up to her," first we need food.  And rest."  Her hand fell away from the screen's on/off switch.  "This information has lain here for three weeks unattended.  Another few hours won't make a difference to it."  She crossed her arms and stared back expectantly.  "But will to us."  

Zechs let out a pent up breath.  He knew that look all too well.  He rose and turned to the Devil, with a quirk of his lips.  "Better to give in gracefully at this point.  Trust me."

When the other man looked ready to protest, Noin transferred that steady gaze to him.  "That's a pretty professional looking kitchen up there."

The Devil's mouth opened.  And closed.  Shaking his head slightly, he matched Zechs' half turn.  "Does she always do that?"

"What?"

"Get everyone to jump exactly as she says?"

Zechs looked over his shoulder in time to catch the sardonic twist to Noin's lips.  "She's had plenty of practice."

With a rolling of eyes and small shooing motions, Noin herded them up the stairs to the kitchen.


	5. Wounds

Chapter 5                               Wounds

Dinner passed quickly, if somewhat awkwardly.  After all, how do you make small talk with someone you've known only a few hours, thought was dead, and have no intention of revealing any information to; not even such niggling little details like, say… names?

The Devil escaped with something very akin to relief, mumbling about retrieving the gear from his camp in the woods.  Zechs leaned tiredly against the porch railing and watched the man disappear into the darkness of the trees.  He toyed briefly with the idea of following.  But the sight of Winter, sliding through the shadows like a ghost himself, brought a small smile to his lips.  The wolf would keep a good eye on Silver's past.

Silver.  God.

To see her smile again had warmed his heart, even as her words threatened to rip it right from his chest.  She couldn't honestly think he'd meekly take her data to Une, could she?  He's never left a soldier under his command behind, much less a friend.  

He itched to get at the information she'd left behind.  But Noin would sit on him if he so much as looked in that direction.  And, she would be right, as usual.  His eyes felt like sand paper, and the back of his brain ached with a dull buzzing.  They all need sleep.

Then he groaned.  Sleep.  Which meant sleeping arraignments.  With that thought, the pounding in his skull increased.  Silver's cabin only had two bedrooms, suites actually, that dominated the second floor.  While he had absolutely no claim on the woman's suite, especially with Noin at his side, neither could he stomach the thought of allowing the Devil tact permission to paw through Silver's things.  The man could claim to be Silver's partner back from the dead, and hell, he'd even taken Winter's word, but that didn't mean he had to like him, or this situation, any.  You couldn't blame him for a little territorial feeling, could you?

"Interesting."

Zechs snorted slightly and finally gave into the temptation to rub his eyes.  "Anything specific, or just everything in general?"

Noin perched on the railing next to him with her own small snort.  "I need to start carrying scorecard.  But, I found it very interesting, that even within the supposedly secure message she left, she continues to call you Wind.  She couldn't be that wary of her own system that she censored a privileged communication."

"Actually, Silver's never called me anything but Wind."  Noin raised an eyebrow that he couldn't see, but could just _feel.  "She gave me the name.  Said she had to call me something other than 'the-idiot-lying-in-the-middle-of-her-living-room' and Wind fit."_

"And she never asked your name?"

"She never needed to.  She knew both of them, even before I remembered them myself."  He took a deep breath, recognizing that his conversation with Silver was one he'd never had with Noin.  "We talked about names, she and I.  About the power they hold over us and those around us.  How they can shape our reality, even without our conscience awareness, and color how we deal with that world and the people who make up that existence.  About how Millardo Peacecraft and Zechs Marquise were two different beings."  His voice caught in his throat.  "About how bouncing between that doomed prince and the dammed warrior nearly killed everything around me."  Then fell to a whisper.  "And myself."

_"And until you tell me otherwise, you're Wind to me."  She looked at him steadily, confidently.  "Everyone else can go to hell."_

He shuddered slightly as the memory washed over him.  

"So she called me Wind, said it fit me."  He tore his eyes away from the night sky, and turned to his wife.  "Who am I to you Noin?"

"You're Zechs."  She looked back steadily … and with a hint of sadness?  Then she moved close enough to touch his cheek.  "You're my husband.  My lover.  My friend, oh so my friend, for more years than I care to count. "

He leaned into the touch.  He never should have deserved a woman like her.  Much less two of them …  _Tell_ her_, a small part of his brain screamed._

"Zechs, who is she? "

He took a deep breath, and met Noin's eyes directly.  Frustration and uncertainty were close to overwhelming the underlying love in her eyes.  He couldn't blame her.  Hell, he would have been foaming at the mouth by now in her position.

"Silver was born Cynthia McFarlane, but when she began her special ops training, they called her Angel.  The role became who she was, especially after partnering with our new friend out there.  The Angel and the Devil.  One half of a damn good team.  And, along with the Federation, the only family she had.

"When Devil died, seemingly before her eyes, something died within Angel as well.  So, Silver turned, ran and buried herself so far and so deep that no-one would find the Angel again."

He turned to the sky again, tracing familiar constellations with his eyes.

"Zechs," Noin's voice caught between a hitch and a growl.  "I didn't ask for her resume just yet."

"She's a friend, Noin.  She dragged me out of the death trap I'd turned Epyon into.  She let me camp in her living room for three months, until I could handle the stairs.  Cajoled me when I got despondent and poked fun at my arrogance and irritability."  He drew a small, shallow breath.  "She looked at me Noin, truly looked at me, and saw a person, a man – sick, in pain, in need and desperate.  Silver knew just how fucked up life could be, knew the head trip Oz put on its soldiers.  Hell, she knew it better than I did.  And she was the first person to _look_ – and tell me to stand on my own two god-dammed feet."

Noin felt a small jolt run through her and fought to keep the reaction from her face.  It was silly really, Zechs merely confirmed everything she'd already thought – the woman was a friend, someone who'd made it under the mask, during a time when her husband was arguably at his most vulnerable.  It wasn't surprising that he'd want to keep part of all that separate.  _But, why did he never have those conversations with me? a part of her brain whispered.  __Why not talk with me?_

"Did you love her Zechs?"  Noin was faintly startled to hear the question in her own voice.

"Of course," he replied somewhat absently.

The jolt turned to pure ice in her stomach.  For one sickening moment, the world reeled around her.  With a faint shudder, she sucked in a lungful of air.  _Of course_.

Zechs continued to stare out into the night, oblivious.  "I only lived here, knew her, for little less than a year, but, next to you, she's my best friend."

"Of course." Noin breathed and closed her eyes.  _His best friend… She drew her hand away from his arm, and took a step back towards the house.  Zechs shifted – moving to her? --  but stilled at a flash of white from the woods.  _

"Our new friend must be returning," he murmured.

Noin shoved all the personal feelings to the side for the moment.  "I don't trust him as far as I can throw a Gundam, Zechs."

"Neither do I.  Aside from that, what else do you think of him?"

"He's cold, for all that he appears jovial.  He truly thought he'd find Silver here, or at least something of hers.  He was as surprised as you to see that last message."

"But?"

"But what?"

"There's more.  I saw it your eyes when he and I spoke originally."  He focused on her face.

Her brows drew together.  "Something doesn't ring right with him Zechs.  He's like those cadets who entered the academy with the best of intentions and ideals.  Then turned around and slaughtered innocents without question because of orders.  He reminds me of Alex and Mueller, in a way," she added softly.  "He's ruthless Wind, utterly.  He won't stop at anything to get what he wants."

Zechs nodded and his attention returned to the surrounding woods.

"You wait for him."  She forced her voice to sound normal.  "I'll go scout the rest of the house.  Familiarity with the terrain and all."

Apparently not normal enough.  Zechs half turned this time.  "Noin?"

She closed her eyes against the question in his and drew a deep breath.  When she opened them, he'd turned fully, concern written large across his face.

"Lu?" he whispered.  And stopped at her upraised hand.

"It's okay.  Stay here.  Given that neither of us trusts him, I really don't want to wait for him to merrily appear behind us.  Nor would it be exactly trust inspiring if we're both standing here, like parents waiting for an errant child to return."  She managed a wry twist of her lips she hoped he'd take for a grin.  "Besides, it'll give me a chance to see something other than the kitchen."  With that she turned and fled inside.

With the door firmly shut at her back, she took a deep shuddering breath and fought back tears.  God.  She must be more exhausted than she thought, to have her emotions rocketing all over the place like this.  

"Easy Noin, easy," she murmured.  _Of course he loves her, the rational side of her brain argued.  He lived here for… __Ah, whispered the other side, _that's the kicker.  Don't really know how long – really – do you?  Don't how close they were – really – do you?__

She ground the heels of her hands into her eyes, then pushed away from the door.  _Enough, she thought angrily.  Now was not the time to get maudlin.  Once their new ally and the cabin were assured for the night, __then she could kick Zechs' ass, she thought grimly.  _

Anger was so much more fulfilling than pain.

With determined steps, she mounted the stairs to the second floor.  She'd toured the first floor just before and after dinner.  Aside from what she'd seen upon first entering the house, not much more remain – just a small bathroom and library off the main room.  All the really good toys were downstairs.  Or upstairs.

A short central hallway segmented the second floor into roughly two halves.  The door on the left opened into a small sitting room, with a bed and bathroom visible.  Large windows again dominated the room, sure to allow plenty of light in during the day.  All three rooms were tastefully decorated.  A brief survey revealed nothing important, or even of a personal nature.  Clearly this was the guest side of the house.

Noin retreated to the hallway and paused at the opposite door.  It had to be a matching suite – and if the rooms behind her were unoccupied…

It's just a room, she told herself roughly.  _Then why do I feel like I'm facing a ghost?_

She was almost disappointed when the knob turned under her hand.

The general lay-out of the suite followed its partner across the hall – but bigger. The wall had been knocked out, merging the sitting and bedrooms.  Screens divided the room, as such, clearly demarking living and sleeping space, without interrupting the flow of the room.  A floor-to-ceiling, half-filled bookcase occupied all of one wall, matched by the oversized desk and armchairs by the windows.  And the apparently requisite oversized windows.    A large fireplace would provide heat to both sections of the room, when lit.  _And atmosphere_, her very treacherous brain whispered.

With a laugh that was half strangled sob, she sank to the edge of one of the armchairs and dropped her head into her hands.    _Dear God, when did I fall into this melodrama?   Hell, neither of them were saints.  There'd been others, for both of them, during the course of their lives through the years, before finally taking the plunge into matrimony less than a year ago.  She'd starting this journey sane enough – was it really only 48 hours ago, give or take?  So, when did she change from considerate mate into a shrew, if only in her own mind?_

_But, don't you have some right to shrewdom?  After all, here's a part of that life he never bothered to tell you about, about a woman he freely admits to loving.  Zechs, your Zechs, the man who'd rather chew glass than talk about his feelings._

She jerked off the chair, seized by a wholly uncharacteristic urge to smash something.  Just a little something.  Just for a moment.  _Why do I always have to be the calm and logical one?_  Just once it'd be nice to act on her emotions, like too many of their circle.  Wufei sprang wildly to mind.

Then she grimaced.  That was never her.  And, _be honest Noin_, she did follow her emotions just as resolutely, if in a slightly more sane manner.  She could still see Relena's face when she'd faced down Lady's men after the girl's failed assignation attempt.  And Epyon sweeping towards her Taurus, beam-weapon out-stretched.  

The thought of defending Relena, and Sanq and everything that followed during the Eve wars, brought a back small measure of focus.  Following her emotions had never been a problem.  

She just had to figure what her emotions truly were now.

 Zechs stared at the door Noin shut firmly in his face.  He'd heard the sudden pain in her voice, even as she tried to hide it, but not certain what seemed to suddenly cause it.

But, the hell of it was, he couldn't blame her.  He had hurt her.  And he knew it.  Oh, maybe not the specific phrase.  But, the hurt was plain.  The cause was plain.  Even he could see it.

But, he couldn't see how to heal it.

"Dammit Silver," he muttered.  A wealth of curses existed in that phrase.

The click of nails coming up the stairs behind him dragged him back to the situation on hand.  Winter paused at his side, yellow eyes gleaming faintly in the shadows.  "Back already, huh?" He turned to face the forest fully.  "Couldn't have been that far away then."

Sure enough, after only a few more moments, the man himself pulled up on a surprising silent dirt bike.  Pulling only a small pack from the lump strapped to the back of the bike, he strode up the stairs.  "Worried I'd get lost?"

Zechs allowed one corner of his mouth to quirk and gestured for the other man to precede him inside.  A small stand off ensued, which the Devil finally ended with a little mock salute and walked through the door. 

He shifted his shoulders and turned to face Zechs.  "So, what's the plan?"  He glanced back towards the kitchen.  And Silver's hidden work room.

"Sleep," Zechs said firmly.  "Fire was right.  Silver's information has waited this long.  It'll keep for another few hours.  We need to be at top form to process whatever she's left behind."

"And, not like I'm getting into those files any time soon without you either, huh?"  The man grinned.  "Aye, mutual distrust, my old friend.  Such are the ties that bind."

Zechs grabbed the Devil's arm before he could turn for the stairs.  "You don't have any other idea where she is, do you?" he asked softly.

"No.  You know what I do."  The other man gazed pointedly at his arm, then met Zechs eyes firmly, coldly.  "Who is she to you?"

"A friend."

"A friend.  So you said.  Just like the other 'friend' you arrived with?"

Zechs grinned back, the sort of just-baring-your-teeth grin another predator recognizes.  

With a small twist, the Devil reclaimed his arm and turned towards the stairs.  "She had the effect."  The dismissal was clear.  Zechs just barely squashed the growl forming in his throat.

 Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the packs he'd brought in from the SUV earlier and followed the arrogant little bastard up the stairs.

Noin met them at beginning of the hallway, open doors flanking her irregularly.  While her stance was semi-relaxed, he had the sneaking suspicion she'd heard every word downstairs. 

"Only two rooms boys, something I suspect you both already knew.  Flipping coins, are we?"

Suddenly, the Devil looked as uncomfortable as he felt.  Zechs took a perverse sort of pleasure in that as Noin trained a professionally cold eye on each of them.

"Ah, well, about that…"  The other man ran a hand through his hair, his body posture suddenly screaming "I'm just a charming school boy, don't be mad."  Zechs smirked as Noin's eyes turned positively wintery.  It was look designed to make grown men squirm, one she'd perfected years ago, although she probably picked up the small, not-quite sneer from Une sometime in the year he'd been gone.  

"Look, why don't the two of you take the larger room?"

"We could always divided the accommodations by gender," Noin replied.  Zechs winced internally, smirk slipping.

The Devil shot a half-amused, half-questioning look over his shoulder, clearly not sure if she was joking or not.  Zechs himself wasn't all that certain.

Noin broke the spell herself, rubbing her eyes and muttering under her breath, something that sounded suspiciously like "idiot men".  "Your suggestion makes the most sense, of course."  She took her bag from her partner and moved through the open doorway.  With a final nod that somehow managed male bonding and a challenge at the same time, the men moved from the hallway as well.  Zechs found himself curiously reluctant to close the door behind him.  The sight of Noin's rigid back by the bed cured him of the last of the denial.

Time to buck up, boyo.

"Noin, I'm sorry."

A strangled gasp – half laugh, half choke – escaped her.  "Why?"

He ran a hand through his hair and seized on the easiest.  "For dragging you into this with little or no information.  A possibly very dangerous situation."

"Bullshit."  She turned, arms hugged to her chest, eyes flashing with exhaustion and anger.  "We were raised for the dangerous Zechs.  That's what we do.  Try again."

He moved to the end of the bed and sank down with a sigh.  "What do I say?  I'm sorry I waited until now to tell you about Silver.  Sorry that I hurt you.  And I'm not sure how to fix it."

"Why Zechs?  Let's just start with why?"  Noin's voice was flat.  Yes, he'd definitely reached her limit.

"We both know how dark things were at the end of the Eve Wars.  And Silver walked right into my life at the darkest.  They were ugly times for both of us.  Much of it I'm not proud of."

He closed his eye and memories danced in the darkness – visions of waking that first time in a makeshift hospital room in the living room below them, cursing the pair of women staring down at him.  Feeling his heart twist in his chest as Relena made her first proposal as Vice Foreign Minister of ESUN.  Discovering Silver on the porch on evening, tumbler held loosely in one hand, bottle of bourbon tucked into her side.  Of taking the bottle from her while she looked at him dully.  Then joining her.

"Many of our demons mirrored each other's, Noin.  Too much sometimes.  But, we managed to climb somewhat out of the hell we'd each created."  He laughed softly, a little wildly.  "I barely remember Silver pulling me out of Epyon.  I wasn't exactly grateful at the time."

"Zechs."  Noin crouched before him, wrists balanced on her knees.  "Later.  Tell me the stories later.  You need to tell me the stories.  But later."

"I was ashamed Noin.   Of myself, before and during the war.  And afraid.  Afraid of the pain, of reliving… all of it.  And Silver," he shrugged, "Silver's wrapped up in all of it here.  All the good memories and all the bad.  It was easier to ignore this part of my life, once she'd pushed me out of the nest.  Easier has always been my specialty."

She shot him a disgruntled look and muttered, "Not always Marquise."

His lips twitched involuntarily.  No, there were some things he hadn't done the easy way.  His "courtship" of her ranked right up there, of course.

"My room was across the hall.  And stayed that way.  We weren't lovers."  _Spill it!_  "Except once.  And that once – it wasn't about love or even sex.  I think we were both just so desperately lonely.  We needed the contact."

He saw the stricken look in her eyes even as he saw her innate honest force her to accept it – and (hopefully) move on.

"How long Zechs?  How long were you here?"

"Eight months or so."  He reached out and traced the line of her cheek, somewhat gratified that she didn't flinch away.  "She understands darkness, Noin.  She has as much blood on her hands as I, much of it even dirtier.  It's funny, in a way."  He swallowed and Noin waited patiently for him to continue.  "Silver pushed me to return to the world even as she buried herself here behind dummy holdings and more computer mumble-jumble than I could comprehend.  She gave me a listing of Relena daily activities that would send my little sister's security into fits if they knew.  And, she gave me you."

Noin's brows drew together.  "What?" she said softly.

"I refused any information from her at first.  I even tried to throw the first file in the fire.  It missed by about four feet.  She just shook her head at me and another file appeared the next week.  She tracked your movements for me, what information she could glean, even if most of it was just mission reports."

She sighed.  "I knew that system downstairs would be trouble."

"Noin," his voice trembled, and her eyes snapped back to his.  "Silver, she understands far too much of what went on in my soul.  I know some of those conversations I had with her, I need to have with you.  But, some of them," he shook his head helplessly.  "I can't."

"If you say something inane like 'You're too pure" I will hit you."

That startled a small chuckle out of him.  "Never.  You've got a mean left jab."

"Good.  Don't forget it buster."  She shifted forward, and cupped his face in her hands.  "I'm not happy you've kept all this from me, Zechs.  And, damn it, I'm jealous.  But, I understand.  It wasn't all sweetness and light for me either you know."

"I know," he breathed.  "I'm sorry."

"Good."

The Devil paused as the door across from him closed with a small click.  _Wind, my ass.__  Really, Marquise, cut the damn hair if you don't want anyone to instantly recognize you. He couldn't pin a name on the female just yet, but all that meant was she wasn't a public figure during the Eve War.  She'd most definitely been a fighter, though.  Her movements and observational skills were those of a trained soldier.  Oh, what he wouldn't give to have had the forethought to plant a couple of bugs in that room.  He'd seen the edge in the female's eyes when he'd returned._

Then he turned and closed his own door behind him.  Well, he hadn't planned on seeing anyone in this hideaway other than the Angel. But, just maybe running into Marquise and his woman would continue to work to his advantage.  Already he knew where Angel hid her set-up, something that would have taken him some time to find.  His partner was nothing if not creative about her work.  

And with Marquise he'd have a decent chance at her system, instead of a snowball's.  A surge of jealousy ran through his body.  The Angel was his and his alone.  Theirs was a closed relationship; no-one had ever come between him and his Angel before, not since he'd disposed of their first handler.  The thought of someone else involved with his Angel, knowing _anything about her, much less having a __password into her system …_

A small snap drew his attention to the bag in his hands.  With a slight snort of disgust, he dropped bag and broken handle onto the bed.  Really, there was no guarantee of workmanship these days.

_Well, he mused as he moved into the bathroom,__ I've found your lair, Angel.  Now it's just a matter of time until I have everything._

A grin played around his lips.

A dark figure glided down the stairs and through the living room.  Outside, crickets chirped in the darkness.  _Where the hell do crickets come from all the way out here?_ came the idle thought.  The shape paused for a moment to marvel again at the layout of the cabin.  It truly was amazing work, a testament to the tastes of the women who'd built it.

Turning into the kitchen, it was a full two steps before the low growl registered in the air.  

_Damn.  Forgot about the damn wolf._

Winter rose into a sitting position in front of the hidden door leading into the workshop downstairs.  Not a muscle moved and the growl died when the figure showed no motion forward.  

"Not letting anyone in just yet, are you?"

The wolf twitch an ear.

A low chuckle filled the air where the growl had been just a moment before.  "Well, then.  Guess I'll just have to wait.  Until tomorrow my friend."

Yellow eyes never wavered as they tracked the movement out of the kitchen.  With a small sigh of his own, the lupine lowered himself back to the floor to continue his vigil.  


	6. Trips

Chapter 6                   Trips

Sunlight filtered through the leaves and a soft breeze brushed her check.  Noin stole a glance at her husband out of the corner of her eye and found his complete focus on the ridge in front of them, the apparent site of Silver's information cache.  With an internal sigh she returned her own attention to the trees in front of them.

They'd left Silver's cabin two days ago.  To his credit, Zechs actually waited until after breakfast before diving into the computer system, the Devil hot on his heels.  The two men had poured through every file Zechs had access to.

This Black Rose operation showed every aspect of being exactly what Silver described: a few fanatics with delusions of grandeur originally.  Then someone had stepped in, someone with military knowledge and tactical savvy.  The terrorist organization had taken over an abandoned, and forgotten, local military installation only some two miles away from the cache site.  And Silver had been as good as her word, the files held a mind boggling amount of information – the most prevalent being the money trace.  The shoestring the originals used seemed to have evolved into a very substantial looking stream of money.  But, even with the sheer amount of raw data gleaned from the 'net, no hard facts on the upper leadership or the guiding mission of the group existed ("other than the usual mayhem and destruction," Zechs snorted derisively).

So Silver had decided to insinuate herself into the organization, leaving Winter and her message behind for Zechs.

While Zechs and the Devil combed through the maps and figured the location of Silver's cache and the Black Rose base, Noin had sent a message of her own to Preventers' headquarters, for Une's direct attention.  That a terrorist organization had formed on Earth, under the Preventers very nose, troubled her.  And, if she couldn't turn this information over in person, the next best was a copy left at a drop site known only to her and the General.

They'd left the next morning.

Noin snickered and Zechs flicked a glance in her direction.  "What?" he asked quietly.

"Oh, nothing."  She smoothed out her expression.

"You're thinking about that damn wolf again, aren't you?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want answers to."

He grumbled and turned back to his surveillance.  Noin allowed the grin to spread.  Really, it had been too funny.  Zechs was just annoyed he figured so prominently in the scene.

The morning after rummaging through Silver's information, they'd risen early. 

_Noin turned from loading their few bags, plus the extras liberated from the cabin and computer room into the back of the SUV.  Zechs stood at the foot of the stairs, eyes locked on the door he'd just secured behind him.  A beautiful morning surrounded them; skies clear, birds twittered in the wood, a slight breeze waffed by with the clean scents of evergreen, sunlight and the wild meadow._

_And the tension radiated off her husband in tangible waves._

_Noin sighed.  Their first night here they'd both fallen into an exhausted sleep soon after the discussion.  But last night, last night Zechs and the Devil had pushed themselves until the wee hours of the morning.  When she finally herded them upstairs, Zechs had paced until she'd pulled him down onto the bed.  The she uttered the fateful words._

_"Tell me about her."_

_The slight rock of the SUV under her hand pulled her attention away.  A pair of yellow eyes stared calmly at her through the back window._

_"Um, Wind?"_

_A noncommittal "Hmmmm?" drifted back._

_"No, really, Wind."_

_Devil looked up from lashing his pack onto his bike._

_"I though you said the wolf would stay behind."_

_"And?"___

_"Anyone tell him that?"_

_A muffled snicker came from behind her._

_Zechs turned slowly._

_Winter gazed steadily back at him through the open side door._

_The man broke the contact first, eyes closing.  "Winter, you can't come."_

_The wolf settled to lay lengthwise along the back seat.  Noin could still see the top of his head.  And the decided "Oh yeah?" twitch to his ears._

_Noin stifled her own giggle._

_"Winter, we don't truly know what we're headed into.  Not to mention the travel time…."  He trailed off as Winter's head disappeared behind the seat back.  Zechs turned a helpless gaze on her._

_A snort that sounded suspiciously like a guffaw escaped her._

_He narrowed his eyes.  "You're not helping."_

_"Sorry," she answered cheerfully._

And, since Zechs apparently didn't have nearly the clout Silver did and moving 80-odd pounds of unwilling wolf was unfeasible, it brought them to this point, scanning a patch of trees somewhere in Eastern Europe, waiting for Winter's all clear sign.

Barely disturbing the undergrowth, a grey shape emerged and gave two sharp yips before disappearing back into the forest cover.

"Let's go." 

The door to the interrogation room slid open and Adam Tresky forced his jaw to unclench.  The scene before him had been nauseating on the video screen, but in person …  He strode forward, eyes as cold as his moniker.

"Enough Sulkoff."

"Ah, Tresky.  Come to participate after all?"  The other man stepped back from the woman strapped to the chair, a neat row of empty syringes laid on the wheeled prep table at his side.

Adam brushed past the officer and crouched before Angel again, and only long practice kept his face expressionless as his heart rate jumped.

Her eyes stared straight ahead, locked on something only she could see.  A mix of fury, terror and helplessness swirled in them.  Idly Cold wondered what the sadist at his back had given her, then dismissed the thought as unproductive.  Only Sulkoff knew the counter to this cocktail, if one even existed.  Adam suspected time was the only remedy.  While many of the drugs available to those in their profession could kill or reduce a victim to a complete vegetative state, he highly doubted Sulkoff would take that step.  To do so would reduce the reaction he would receive at future "sessions."  And as much as he hated to admit it, the Silver Angel had plenty left to give.

"Angel?"

The muscles in her arms spasmed, even as her hands hung lax.  The eyes never flickered, never blinked.

"Cyn?"  That earned him a small glance, with no recognition.  The cocktail had effectively trapped her in her own head.  Earlier she had responded some to outside stimulus; that was when Sulkoff had conjured whatever world she was currently trapped in.  The screams had been what first pushed him to hack into the security camera system.  The man had never touched her, except to inject more drugs into her system.  But, he whispered to her the entire time, bent low over her head, painting God-knows what pictures with his words.  Adam shuddered to imagine the images Cynthia must have dragged from the depths of her mind.  Theirs wasn't a pretty line of work.

He straightened and turned to the man behind him.  "She's almost non-responsive.  Are you through?"

Sulkoff shrugged, and motioned to the two guards who'd entered with Tresky forward.  The men removed the restraints and hauled the woman upright with a decided lack of attention to her injuries.

Cold Strike saw the flicker in her eyes a split second before she moved.

Lashing out with her foot, Angel buckled the knee of the man on her right sideways, a direction no knee was meant to bend.  Snake quick she slammed an elbow into the face of the man on her left, followed by a hard right punch to the sternum.  Snapping the same fist upwards, she connected solidly with his jaw, and dropped him like a stone.  

In a separate, analytical part of his mind, Cold admired her moves for the economy of movement and the energy given her current state.  Actually, the drugs were probably feeding her adrenaline levels, giving her resources she wouldn't have had if Sulkoff hadn't been toying with her for the past two hours.  Then even that small part turned itself over to defense.

Angel turned with a heel hook kicked aimed at his side, designed to drive out his air, and allow her to get inside his defenses.  Inside was good for her, bad for him.  He blocked that one, then the round house kicked that followed it.  They exchanged a flurry of blows, his more defensive than hers, hampered as he was by the desire not to hurt her.  _Too bad Angel's not playing with the same rules, he thought as he barely deflected half-fist she aimed at his throat.  That was a killing blow with enough force behind it. _

Suddenly, she stumbled, just a little, her left shoulder dipping.  She whirled to face this new attack and Adam saw the dart, just to the left of the large bandage covering her right shoulder blade.    Across the room Sulkoff lowered the gun, a small smile playing around his lips.

To her credit, Angel managed two steps before wavering.  At the third she collapsed to one knee, breath that hadn't been tax in the fighting a moment before starting to come in gasps.  Slowly she seemed to crumble as the sedative took effect on her system.

In the sudden absence of movement, sound filled the air – the whimpering moans of the guard with the shattered knee and Cynthia's labored breathing.

"Satisfied, Tresky?"

"What?"  Adam spared the man a quick glare as he moved to check on the fallen woman.  Her heartbeat was thready and fast, her breathing shallow.  But, she was breathing.  Reassured, he turned to the fallen guards.

"None of this would have occurred had you not interfered."

"What?"  Adam asked incredulously as he tried to still the writhing man.  "Don't move," he murmured.  Even his untrained eye could see that the Angel had done a number on that knee.

Sulkoff spread his hands to encompass the three bodies.  "This.  The Silver Angel has been very … cooperative.  Had you not interfered I doubt she would have reacted in such a manner."

"Really?"  He turned to the other guard, just starting to come to and coughing as his mind registered the blow to his chest.  

"The Angel has understood her position; I made sure she heard the standing orders to the guards to only take a disabling shot, not a killing shot should she decide to run.  She has been a model prisoner thus far.  She would not have acted so precipitously had she not been moved in her current state."

Adam took the guard's weapon and helped him to sit upright.  "A state you put her in."  Then he caught himself.  Arguing with this ghoul would get him nowhere fast.  Instead, he moved to the comm. unit in the room and called for the infirmary.  Both guards needed attention.  Not to mention Cyn.

"Well then.  I'll leave you to this."  Boot heels clicked through the open doorway.  Adam watched the man go, and briefly rubbed his eyes.  _God, and to think, I've only been back on base less than 24 hours… _

The small, hand-held GPS locator led them easily to the cache.  Zechs knelt and began clearing the fallen leaves and deadwood from the base of a huge oak tree.  The Devil moved next to him with a utility spade.  Between them they unearthed a stainless-steel rectangle in record time.  They moved it to leveler ground and sat back in satisfaction.

"So, anybody have the key?"  Noin asked dryly.

Devil blinked up at her, then back at the box.  It was clearly hinged, meant to be opened, and just as clearly sealed.  He began to run his fingers around the edge, looking for clues.

Zechs shook his head, produced a small data slide from his chest pocket and held it up with two fingers.  

Noin gave him a small half shrug and inclined her head in return.  

He cocked an eyebrow at her.  

A small grin tugged at the corner of her lips, along with a slight rolling of her eyes.  

Trust her to tweak him if she could.

"Here."  Zechs moved to the box and a small indention on the front.  Placing the slide flush with the metal produced an audible click.  The lid lifted smoothly revealing a computer screen and keyboard.  The small machine hummed to life under his hand.

"Looks like a laptop on steroids," the Devil muttered under his breath.

Zechs chose to ignore the comment, although another twitch of Noin's lips told him she'd heard as well.  Once past another password request, Zechs was into the meat of the information.  A more detailed schematic of the compound, a rough counting of the personnel, armaments – 

"Whoa," the Devil breathed.  "They've got silos in here."

"And a high probability of the missiles to use with them," Zechs added.  This was just getting better and better…

"Now what?" Noin asked.

"What do you mean 'now what'?"  The Devil looked at her.  "Now we use what data she left to get her out."

She shook her head.  "This needs to get back to the Preventers.  Information like this can't be jeopardized," she paused, "not for one person."

"Excuse me?"  The Devil rose lithely to his feet.  "I've finally found Angel and you're telling me we're just walking away?  I don't think so lady."

"And I understand that.  But, we're still talking about one person here.  One.  Who has been a prisoner already for who knows how long.  She said it herself – no rescue attempts."

"Like hell.  I know the Angel.  She's still alive.  And I'm not leaving her in there."

"How do you know that?  Divine inspiration?  We can't take that risk."

"I'm not leaving without her."  And just that suddenly the Devil shifted from outrage partner to a taunt, cool professional.  Oh, on the outside nothing changed – his eyes still blazed daggers at Noin - but something snapped about the man, hard enough to jerk Zechs' head up and kick his adrenaline.  He saw Noin shift according, moving to free her gun hand and solidify her stance of the forest floor.

"Wai-"

He never even finished the word.


End file.
